Just bought my new 5.25. I hear Springfield can do some custom work on the gun. Thinking about porting the barrel. Looking for people's opinions and recommendations.
Don't know if SA does their own porting. I do know S&W send theirs out to Mag-na-Port I've had a couple done by them, results were top notch (ha ha) ! ! ! You can save a couple middleman bucks and send it direct to them . . . i did. Took about 10 days there and back. magnaport.com
yeah, great idea . . .save money. yes shot ported rifle and pistol at night. (and other things) I didn't think pistol and rifle were too bad. You might think otherwise or same. Try a couple shots eyes wide open. Then try a couple shots with a squint. And try a couple shots one eyed closed (non dominant) . . .compare. repeat as needed.
From an email to Springfield inquiring about getting the slide on my 5.25 modified to accept the same optic mounts as the 4.5" OSP, I was told that the Springfield Custom Shop presently is not accepting any new custom work. Here is their response to my email: "Due to the popularity of our custom upgrades we have found ourselves in a situation where the build times for full custom firearms has lengthened to waits of 2.5 years or more. As a result, Springfield Custom has decided to suspend all upgrades in an effort to concentrate their talents on catching up on the backlog of full custom firearm orders already waiting. We feel that we do not serve our customers well quoting almost 3 years for some models and this should bring those waits down substantially. We fully expect to open up to alterations after the first of the year but that will ultimately be determined by how far we get on our backorders by then. "
Yep saw that coming. . . Got a quote from their custom shop over a year ago, and even then wait time was 18 months ! And the price was in the Wilson Combat area. (4 mo. wait for wilson)
You might be able to purchase a 3rd party ported barrel and slide for your 5.25 XDM. Keep in mind that the slide also needs to be ported if a ported barrel is used. Given that porting the barrel is mainly done to help keep the barrel down during recoil, you might want to mount a light/laser unit on the under rail if one is present on your model. I own an XD(M) 5.25" 9mm competition gun and shoot it factory stock. I have no problem with recoil that would make me want to have the barrel and slide ported. One thing you might want to try is shooting 124-gr ammo instead of 115-gr ammo to see if that helps you. If you find it helps but not quite enough for your liking, perhaps going with 147-gr might be the answer. The heavier weight rounds in the magazine will help add weight to the grip of your gun which may also help. You can also purchase brass mag base plates through Taylor Freelance (taylorfreelance.com) which will add some serious weight to the butt of your XDM. You will want to make sure your foot is not beneath the mag well when you punch the mag release button when using their brass base plates!
